Ta Da..... or Whew! It is finally finished!

Yes, I did it!  I finally finished the artistic top that turned out not so artistic, but finished.  That is okay because it makes me happy when I wear it, which I did today.  It  definitely isn't boring. 

Wonderfully artistic isn't it? (Said with tongue in cheek so it sounds more like "Wunrfrll lrtk id ni")  I tried. I did get the green color in it and the pinks near my face. All that strip piecing is much too time consuming for someone that works 40 hours a week and comes home to three kids, a husband, and a very dirty house.  Not to mention all the laundry and the cooking and dishes. So, I minimized it and through in a bit of the Tilton sisters with the different fabrics I used. But Joy Joy loved it and I got several compliments on it at work, so it can't be too bad.

The fit could use some work and so, I think I will be working on this pattern with my SFD blue print.  That is another story.  I love using SFD, but every time I've tried to use it with a pattern I get scared and go back to Palmer-Plestching it.  I know that isn't a verb, but Joy and I have turned it into one, although we usually abbreviate it to P&P it.  If you saw my size F bust dart and what it looks like next to a commercial pattern, you would understand my fear.  Especially  after I change that size F bust dart to a princess seam. The top of the shoulder looks like it would be on the side of my arm.  I look at that weird thing and then look at the commercial pattern and say, "How the heck is that normal looking thing (the commercial pattern) going to be changed into something that looks like my weird bust pattern.  Then I stuff SFD ( Sure-Fit Design) back into its envelope.  Joy has made it work so well, that I really feel I ought to be able to do it to.  After all, we have to do everything together! ;-)

Next, I think I am going to do a shrug to go with a purple outfit that I have.  I bought the fabrics at Cloth Merchants in Tulsa with the idea of making a top and pants.  Instead, I managed to get a top and pants out of the first fabric, so I'm thinking that the sheer fabric I had planned to be used for a lined top will become a sheer shrug to wear over the others.  That third piece makes such a difference in what I look like.

This is totally off the subject of sewing, but I consider this my journal, too.  I need to say something here that I think is important.  It is about character and decision making.

I'm sixty years old and a good portion of my life I have spent working in credit unions.  I've done everything from working the teller line to being the President/CEO of a credit union in the DC area.  However, most of my time was spent in the loan department as a loan officer or an underwriter.  This is back when the loan officers actually made a decision and didn't rely on the computer to tell them if the loan was good or not. (Sorry, but in my opinion it takes a person to make that decision, which is probably a reason I don't work at credit unions any more.)  In other words, loan officers were hired for their judgement and underwriters not only had good judgement, they were the pickiest of the nit-pickers.Working in loans you develop instincts about what makes a good loan and what makes a bad loan.  You had to be able to back it up with facts, but I could usually tell within ten minutes of meeting the person if it was going to be a good loan or not.

The facts you need to back up your decision came from the "3 C's", Collateral, Capacity, and Character.  Collateral was what was offered to secure a loan, a car, a house, or a signature. Capacity is the ability to re-pay the loan; does the borrower have sufficient income compared to debts to pay the loan.  Those are both important, but to me, the most important thing is Character.  For character, I looked not only at the interview and the application, but the discussion over the credit report.  What I found over the years was that you saw patterns of behaviour from that discussion.  If the borrower had flawless credit and a reasonably low level of credit, that was an easy loan.  If there were one or two 30 day late pays and they could explain, ("The baby came two weeks early and in all the excitement, I forgot to make my payment.") then as long as the capacity was there it was probably a good loan.  But if there were more or bigger problems on the credit report then the discussion became really important.  If I asked about a problem and the response was something to the effect, "it was somebody else's fault" and I felt the explanation made sense, I went on to the next problem.  If the answer was again "it was somebody else's fault" I became concerned.  The pattern that was emerging was one of bad decisions and blaming others or bad luck for those decisions.  If that was the end of the bad credit I would ask for documentation to prove their version of those two things.  However, if there was still more credit problems and it always came down to "it wasn't my fault" they weren't going to get the loan, because I realized that their next bad decision could mean my loan wouldn't be paid.

I see so many young people now that are like that.  They don't realize that it is their own bad decisions that are causing their problems in life.  Everyone has bad things happen to them, but again, it is the way you handle those problems and the decisions that you make that will make the difference in your life.

$100,000 in student loans to get a degree that will earn you $30,000 a year is a bad decision.

Getting pregnant before you are married is a stupid thing to do.  Okay, in my opinion having sex outside of marriage is stupid, not to mention it is a sin. But having a baby that you can't support is equally stupid.  Killing that unborn child is murder, plain and simple.  From the time that child is conceived it is a human being and has rights to life every bit as strong as the mother's right to life.  So, if you fall into sin and do get pregnant, at least give that child a chance and give him/her up for adoption.  You will have a better life and so will that child.  For Pete's sake, don't get married just because you are pregnant.  Which brings me to the next thing.

Marrying the wrong person is the biggest mistake you can make in your life and will make the biggest difference in the life you lead.  Don't marry someone that is not ethical or trustworthy.  If he/she lies to you now, you better believe he/she will lie to you later. 

Stay out of debt!  Yes, this is the former loan officer saying, "Stay out of Debt".  As the Bible says and Dave Ramsey repeats so often, "The borrower is slave to the lender."  Don't enslave yourself for a new car.

Just think and make smart decisions.  Be honest with yourself and others.Maybe someone reading this will be helped by it.  I hope so.

I think Blogger is telling me it is time to stop and I still have the pictures to post. 
Hugs, Phylly

Hep! Hep! I Stuck!

That is what my youngest grandson Justin was yelling Saturday afternoon.  I came running from the kitchen into the living room where he was playing!  As I was running, I could hear my husband roaring with laughter, so I assumed it couldn't be too horribly serious.  Sure enough, Justin was standing on his head in my recliner and couldn't figure out how to get out of the position.  About another hour later there was the same cry, "Hep! Hep! I stuck!"  This time he had tried to slide under the TV stand to get a toy out from under it.  Most people would have tried to reach under it with their arms but not Justin.  When I walked into the living room all I could see of him was from the waist up. "Hep, Nana! I stuck!"  Again, my husband was sitting in his chair grinning from ear to ear.  I reached down and grabbed Justin by the hands and just slid him out from under the TV stand.  He took off to see what other situation he could get into.  Life is never dull with a two year old around for entertainment.

But, right now I'm feeling like I need to yell out, "Hep! Hep! I'm stuck".  I'm in the middle of a creative project and that is just the way I'm feeling.  I started this strippy top with lots of enthusiasm and ideas.  It has gone through a 1" wide strip phase, to a Bargello patchwork phase and back to a stripped variable width, but narrower than 1" phase and I feel like I'm getting no where.  Every book I've ever read by a fabric artist and every video I've seen by a fabric artist all say the same thing, "Just take the fabric and play with it until you get what you like."  I think what I am learning is that I don't know how to play, or I don't like playing.  I am not really comfortable with "going with the flow".  I want to make a plan and have it turn out like I planned it the first time.  I don't expect to execute that plan and then not like it and have to change it into something else.

Secondly, my time is very limited and playing with the fabric and changing my mind every five minutes takes lots of time, which I don't have.  I love the process of fitting and making the pattern. But this playing thing takes too much time. I can easily spend two weeks altering a pattern until it fits me.  But that I think out and figure out what I need to do and then do it.  But this artistic thing is just too much for me.

After two weeks this is all that I have.  It isn't even wide enough for half of the front.  Of course, I have been hampered by a case of allergic conjunctivitis, according to my doctor.  In other words, last week my allergies went wild causing my eye lids to swell up until I could barely open my eyes.  My vision was blurry, too.  I take allergy medicine everyday and use a steroid nasal spray, so why should my allergies be able to do that?  Mainly, I spent my evenings sitting with my eyes closed as much as possible last week.  I finally went to the doctor and he gave me a 'script for steroid drops to put into my eyes.  They are still super sensitive to light and tend to want to get blurry.  At least now I can sew again.

I've got a lot of time and fabric invested in this top, but I'm seriously wondering if I am going to finish it.  I'm not even sure I will like it if I do finish it.  I started this project as the answer to what to wear with a pair of pants that I made out of the dark green material.  It is a beautiful material, but just not a color that I want near my face unless I want everyone asking if I am sick..  I decided this morning that there was no reason that I couldn't wear the pants with a pink floral top so I wore them to work.  So, do I really need this top?  What to do; what to do?

Help! Help! I'm stuck!

Hugs, Phylly

Slicing and Dicing

First I must rant.  Why is it that when mothers/grandmothers watch the children they are responsible for them, but when fathers/grandfathers watch the children it is the mother/grandmother that is still responsible for them?  I don't get it!

Today, I was fixing dinner and since what I was cooking involved hot popping grease I did not want the children in the kitchen.  The older two were next door playing, so they weren't the problem.  It was their two year old brother Justin that was the problem.  You remember this kind of two year old; he's never seen a wall he can't climb, a bowl of water he won't dump,  the back of a couch he won't jump off of, a mud puddle he won't jump in, or a door he can't open.  Yes, that is our sweet little grandson, also known as "Nana's Little Terror".  Anyway, all went well for a while.  I could hear the TV and Justin playing (meaning toys being thrown or dropped) and an occasional, "No, Justin! Don't do that!  Do you want a spanking?" and Justin's sweet little, "Yes."  He says, "Yes" like most kids say, "No"  After a while I realized I wasn't hearing Justin playing.  So, I yelled to my DH in the living room, "What's going on with Justin?  It is awful quiet."  I heard some mumbling and grumbling coming from the living room and then "I'll find him."  I headed to the living room to help just in time to see Roger come out of our bedroom with Justin held at arm's length in front of him.  My husband says, "I KNOW WHY THEIR TOILET WAS STOPPED UP LAST WEEK!He's got the toilet stopped up and water is over flowing all over the floor!!!"  Then he plopped Justin down on the floor and yanked the soppy wet jeans and shirt off of him and stomped back into the bathroom to clean up the mess. I stripped the soggy diaper off of Justin, and let him run around for a minute naked while I turned the fire down under everything on the stove.  Then I cleaned him up and dried him off, put a clean diaper on him and found clean clothes for him to wear.  I plopped him down in the chair and made him sit there for two minutes. He knew he was in trouble and he better behave.

I can understand why Roger was mad at Justin.  Obviously, Justin misbehaved.  But why was he mad at me?  Okay, I went to the bathroom and forgot to put the latch back on the door, but if he had been watching the little guy,  he wouldn't have had a chance to make such a mess.  Neither of us are yellers by nature, but this time when he yelled at me about not latching the door I yelled back at him about not watching the child.  I can take care of three children at the same time and cook a meal.  I might not be able to breathe when dinner is ready (the anxiety thing), but none of them would have made a mess or been in danger.  Why can't he watch one little boy and keep him out of trouble? This is not the first time he's made a mess in the bathroom while Roger was watching him!

I will also point out that after dinner, DH hid out in the bedroom with the door closed and locked while I did dishes and watched all three kids until their Mom picked them up after work.

So, I ask you again, why is it that when mothers/grandmothers watche the children, they are responsible for the children, but when fathers/grandfathers watche the children, it is still the mother/grandmother that is responsible?

Here is what I accomplished tonight.  I laid the strips I did on top of another fabric that coordinates.  I think I am going to need more fabric. It take a lot more fabric than you realize when you start sewing them together.  You lose 1/2" of every strip you cut.

I think I prefer it better without the coordinating fabric that I laid the strips on.  It just doesn't have enough pink in it.  I'll have to do some more stash diving. I may need to find another green.

Happy Sewing!

Hugs, Phylly

ABO Top Inspired by Artist Ann Williamson

Thank God for talented people like Ann Williamson that can inspire us much less talented people.  I wrote about her work in an earlier blog.  Since my blog is so new it ought to be easy for you to find it.  I believe I called it, "Inspiration".  I just love her work.  She must have infinite patience to do all the applique and hand beading that she does.  Then there is the hand embroidery!  I would love to have her talent and her patience.  Unfortunately, I don't.  I can't draw worth beans, but I can copy.  I do know how to strip piece and while I won't be using kimono silks, I will be using good cotton quilting fabrics and lining it with fine cotton batiste.

 This is the article in Threads Magazine Feb/Mar 2012 that inspired what I plan to do.  I remember reading the article and drooling over the pictures.  It is available as an article on the Threads Insider Website.  If you are a serious seamstress, sewer, sewist, or whatever you call yourself, you need to read Threads Magazine, and be a member of Threads Insider.  At least be a member of Threads Insider.  You really get so much for your money.

Actually, this little artistic top will be the solution to a dilemma that I have.  You see the Marfy/MSS pants are made of a beautiful Tencel fabric that Joy Joy gave me a year or two ago.  It is a sort of an olive green color, which is most definitely NOT my color.  Joy bought the fabric at Cloth Merchants and washed it as she does every fabric she buys.  It came out of the washer fine, but when she took it out of the dryer she found that the color had crackled.  That means that everywhere there was a fold of fabric in the dryer it left a white line.  She was upset and called Cloth Merchant.  They generously refunded her money, but told her to keep the fabric.  She didn't know what to do with it.  She didn't want to throw it away, but she knew she wouldn't use it.  So, I told her to send it to me if she didn't want it and I would use it to practice embroidery on.  Well, my intentions to practice machine embroidery never were fulfilled. I always have lots of unfulfilled intentions when it comes to artistic endeavors.  Do you?

A few months ago, I ran across the fabric in my stash and decided I could dye it teal.  I bought dye at the local yarn store thinking since it was a "natural" fiber that was the proper dye. Yes, fabric dyeing is one of my unfulfilled intentions.  I should have read up on it again before I bought the dye as it turns out the dye I bought was for protein fibers like silk and wool.  The dye I needed was for cellulose fibers like linen and cotton.  Anyway, I read up on the dyes while my fabric was in the washer in hot water that was a beautiful shade of teal blue.  Unfortunately, the fabric came out a slightly bluer shade of olive green, that after being washed a couple of times to get out any extra dye is basically back to its olive green.  But the fabric had become very soft and the color of the fabric, including the crackled areas had become much softer looking so that it almost looks like a batik.  So, when the time came to make up the Marfy/MSS pants I decided it was the perfect fabric.  If the fit was off I wouldn't have wasted a fabric that mattered to me.  Although, come to think of it, I do have quite a bit of money invested in the fabric even if my dyeing didn't work.

 But then I needed a top to go with the pants.  So, last week while exercising I noticed the scraps of the Tencel laying next to a piece of a pink fabric and thought I could wear the pants with a pink top.  But I didn't want the sharp contrast of the pink top with the green pants.  My mind went back to Ann Williamson's work and I decided to strip piece the top.

I went to Threads Insider and found the article I had read and here is how she started so she could estimate the amount of fabric she would need. So I did that, too.  She probably cut slivers and sewed them up.  I will sew together a piece of pink to a piece of green and slice and dice and re-sew until I get what I like.  Then I will cut it out of the ABO pattern sew it up and line it with some cotton batiste that I already have.  Another unfulfilled artistic intention, smocking a baby gown.  (I have so many of those.  There just isn't enough time to do them all.)

If this doesn't work, I can always get the right dye and try again. 

The grandkids have arrived and I will have to get out of my sewing room now.  Sigh!  Never enough time in my sewing room.

Happy Sewing Everyone!

Hugs, Phylly

Why Mess Around With a Good Thing?

I have my Marfy/CLD MSS pants all stitched together.  They are fitting great.  I have the hems almost ready to be stitched.  Now I just have the waistband to cut out and attach. As I was picking out threads at one point this evening I got to thinking and wondering about something. 

I think I showed you the Marfy pattern and the CLD MSS pattern last week and compared them.  The Marfy pattern has a fly front, a waistband, darts and straight legs.  The straight legs are a bit full for me.

Louise Cutting's My Swing Set pants came out in February or March of this year.  Joy Joy and I were blessed to be able to take a class with Louise in Tulsa at the wonderful Cloth Merchants store.  We got to
try out the pattern before it was for sale and Louise fitted it for us.  I love, love, love this pattern.  It is the first time I have ever been able to get a pair of pants to look that good in the back.  Usually, I have folds down below my very flat butt, but not in the MSS pants.  The legs aren't too big either, another constant problem.  I have made three pairs of these pants.  It is too warm right now for the last pair I made.  I should be able to wear them again in another month.  I find that I go to the MSS pants constantly.  They are comfortable and they fit really well.

So, why did I decide that I needed to try the Marfy pattern?  Yes, I wanted a fly zipper and a regular waistband.  But reality is that the elastic waistband is not really uncomfortable.  Louise recommends cutting the elastic (purchased from her) 10"-12" less than your waist measurement.  I think I made the last pair only 9" smaller than my waist and I liked that better.  The elastic is very soft and you cut it smaller to keep the pants from sliding down.  However, I have a waist that is ten inches smaller than my high hips.  Nothing is going to fall off of me.  If my waist and hips were closer in size, I could see cutting it 10" smaller than my waist, but with my waist to hip difference, I think I am going to use 8-9" less than my waist measurement from now on.  Like I said before, I don't like even the thought of elastic pinching my waist. 

I do this all the time.  I get a pattern to fit me and make it once and then move on to another pattern.  The exception to that has been CLD's Relax A Little top.  I've made it three times and I took the first one that Joy made because she didn't like the way it fit her, but I was perfectly happy with the way it fit me.  I love that pattern and I will make it again.  Why don't I do that with more patterns?  Most people don't have any idea that the four RAL tops are the same pattern.  They are different fabrics, different number of buttons, different collar treatments.  Two have pockets and two don't.  I could make it longer or change the neckline.  Why don't I do that instead of starting over with a new pattern and trying to make it fit me?

With the Marfy pants I wanted to try the pattern line because I had read wonderful things about it.  But when I compared the CLD pattern and the Marfy pattern I found the crotch almost the same, but realized that the Marfy pants were going to be way too full for me, so I traced the Marfy waist onto the CLD pants.  I could have made fly front pants with a waistband from the CLD pants without the Marfy pattern, but I wanted to try the Marfy pattern.

Maybe I am constantly making new patterns because I like the process of making it fit me.  I am process driven more than results driven.  The process is like a puzzle and I love to work puzzles.  But why don't I use the TNTs like the CLD pants and the RAL top and work out different ways of changing them?  Wouldn't that be just as much of a puzzle?

Am I like the moth drawn to the fire and always looking for that bright and shiny new pattern to make me happy? 

How about you?  Do you jump from pattern to pattern and never really explore a pattern's full possibilities or do you have TNTs that are used over and over again?

Happy Sewing!

Hugs, Phylly

Marfy Pants and a Question

Is there a Rainbow Bridge for cats?  Of course, I know there isn't really a Rainbow Bridge for dogs, but I like to think that God has some special place for our beloved pets.  Heaven will certainly be a happier place with them than without.  I have several dogs waiting at the Rainbow Bridge for me; Tiny, my first dog, Brandy, the first dog Roger and I had, Peaches, our children's first pet, Cinnamon, my beloved Chocolate Lab, and Nutmeg, our sweet, but very neurotic Yellow Lab mix that was Cinnamon's faithful friend and kept him in line.  But there will only be two cats waiting for my family there.  We still have our Pepper cat, but yesterday, our three legged Seven of Nine went to be at the Rainbow Bridge.  Our home is a little sadder today because of it.

Seven came to us as a wild kitten that got caught in our fence.  We rescued her and took her to our Vet for emergency care.  Dr. Ramage is a wonderful Vet and we just love him and his staff.  The first thing he told me was that he would have to amputate her leg at the shoulder because the circulation had been cut off so long and that it would be almost impossible to find a home for her. Our household is a house full of dog lovers and with our two Labs, I wasn't sure how well a cat  would work.  Dr. Ramage assured me that the cat would be just fine because Labs are so friendly.  So she came home with us.  The dogs never bothered with her.  But she didn't have a thing to do with them either.  Actually, she moved into one bedroom and whomever lived in that bedroom became her personal servant and bed warmer.  She wouldn't have anything to do with anyone else.  First our daughter lived in the room with her and when she moved out, our son moved in.  Robert has taken care of her for the last ten years and it was he that held her in her last minutes.  I know he is missing her, but there will not be another feline addition to the household.  We do still have Mr. Pepper that came into the household as a friend for Seven.  Instead, he discovered the two Labs and kept them terrorized.  I swear he barks like a dog.  No meowing for him.  I've noticed Pepper has spent the day in Rob's room.  I guess they are both missing Seven.

I basted my Marfy/CLD pants together today and found that they were just a little snug through the hi-hip.  Nothing unusual about that.  I had added a second dart to the Marfy pattern, so I took those darts out, but it was still just a little more fitted than I like.  So I think tomorrow I will let out the area from the waist down  about four inches.  It won't take more than about 1/2".  But the backside had the good looks of the Louise Cutting's My Swing Set Pants.  I do love that pattern.

I didn't get much sewing time today and sorry, but no pictures.  We've had the kids since 9:00 a.m. this morning.  I took the oldest two up to school to meet their teachers since school starts tomorrow.  I expected to have most of the evening to sew, but my daughter came home from work and did not look well at all.  Her face was bright red and she said she hadn't felt well all day.  I wanted to take her to the ER, but she would not go.  I checked her blood pressure and it was 135/98.  I know that is way, way too high for that bottom figure.  I fed her some dinner and made her stay with us until it was time to put the kids to bed.  I also had her take a potassium tablet which I know should help.  I sat down with the kids and explained to them, that Mom was sick and it was very important that they not get her upset tonight.  We also made sure that Joshua knows how to use her phone to dial 911 and call me.  Her husband works nights and won't be home until in the morning.  I made her promise to check her blood pressure in the morning and go see her doctor if it was still high.  We did get her blood pressure down to 124/97, but that bottom number is still dangerously high.  I would like to call her, but I also want her to sleep right now.  I will be calling her in the morning.

Hugs, Phylly